Check out which of your favourites are in with a chance at The Bar Awards in May. By Holly Graham.

Hong Kong’s bar scene is legendary and home to some of best drinking in Asia, and picking out the very best is The Bar Awards 2018, which today announces its Top 10 long-lists – see below for the full run-down.

The Bar Awards celebrates hospitality hotspots and heroes in Hong Kong and to get to this point, voting started with public nominations across 12 categories covering drink and dining experiences, as well as the finest bartending talent. These nominees were then passed to The Panel, a group of 51 industry members, to decide the Top 10s.

The Top 10 lists will now be handed back to The Panel to decide the Top 4s for each category and named here on DRiNK on May 14, along with the Top 4s from two Macau categories (Bartender of the Year, Macau presented by Hendrick’s Gin and Bar of the Year, Macau presented by Mumm Champagne) before the winners for this year’s The Bar Awards Hong Kong and Macau are announced on the evening of May 20.

The big industry bash, at a yet-to-be-confirmed venue in the city, will be preceded by a week of guest shifts and parties. Stay tuned for more details.

Presented in alphabetical order, here are this year’s The Bar Awards Hong Kong Top 10s across the 12 categories:

The Rising Star, presented by Perrier
(For bartenders born on or after January 1, 1993)
Aili Nguyen – Employees Only
Bikas Somai – Foxglove
Kovic Rai – Murray Lane Bar (The Murray)
Kshitiz Gurung – Stockton
Lok Cheung – Angel’s Share
Marian Lee – The Pontiac
Nastasia Vera Flores – The Pontiac
Prem Shireesh – On Dining
Rana Chandan – Coa
Sonic Chan Chun Sang – La Base

Best Restaurant Bar, presented by Mancino Vermouth
8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Aqua
Employees Only
Fang Fang
Lily & Bloom
Potato Head
Tokyolima
VEA
Yardbird
Zuma

Best Beer Bar, presented by Peroni
99 Bottles
Alvy’s
Blue Supreme
Bobby’s Rabble (Peel Street)
Little Creatures
Second Draft
TAP – The Ale Project
The Globe
The Madhouse
The Roundhouse (Central)

Best Hotel Bar, presented by Ketel One
Bar Q88 (JW Marriott)
Blue Bar (Four Seasons)
Lobster Bar & Grill (Island Shangri-La)
M Bar (Mandarin Oriental)
MO Bar (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
Murray Lane Bar (The Murray)
Ozone (Ritz Carlton)
Please Don’t Tell (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
Red Sugar (Kerry Hotel)
The Envoy (The Pottinger)

Best Bar Operations, presented by Avion Tequila
Aqua
Coa
Dr. Fern’s Gin Parlour
Employees Only
Foxglove
Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge
Lily & Bloom
Please Don’t Tell (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
Quinary
Stockton

Best Specialist Concept, presented by Giffard
121 BC – Natural Wine Bar
Coa – Oaxaca Inspired Cocktail Bar
Dr. Fern’s Gin Parlour – Gin Bar
Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge – Tiki Bar
J. Boroski – Bespoke Cocktail Bar
La Cabane (Bistro, 62 Hollywood Road) – Natural Wine Bar
Nobushi – Shochu Bar
Ping Pong 129 – Gin Bar
Sake Central – Sake Bar
Strokes – Crazy Golf

Best Hospitality Ambassador, presented by Fever-Tree
Ajit Gurung – Stockton
Beckaly Franks – The Pontiac
Bikas Somai – Foxglove
Bryson Rivera – Bar Q88 (JW Marriott)
Devender Kumar – 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Gagan Gurung – Fang Fang
Jay Khan – Coa
John Nugent – Lily & Bloom
Nick Tse – Bar Buonasera
Simone Rossi – Aqua

Best Hospitality Team, presented by Hendrick’s Gin
Aqua
Coa
Employees Only
Lily & Bloom
Please Don’t Tell (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
Stockton
The Old Man
The Pontiac
Yardbird
Zuma

Most Creative Cocktail Program, presented by Cointreau
Aqua
Coa
Fang Fang
J. Boroski
Quinary
Stockton
The Old Man
The Woods
VEA
Zuma

Best New Bar, presented by Campari
Blue Supreme
Bobby’s Rabble (Wyndham Street)
Coa
Dear Lilly
Los Sotano
Meats
Murray Lane Bar (The Murray)
Please Don’t Tell (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
The Madhouse
The Old Man

Bartender of the Year – Hong Kong, presented by Johnnie Walker
Agung Prabowo – The Old Man
Devender Kumar – 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Gagan Gurung – Fang Fang
Jay Khan – COA
John Nugent – Lily & Bloom
Nick Tse – Bar Buonasera
Owen Gibler – Employees Only
Samuel Kwok – Quinary
Simone Rossi – Aqua
Tom Egerton – Potato Head

Bar of the Year – Hong Kong, presented by Mekhong, the Spirit of Thailand
Aqua
Bar Butler
Coa
Employees Only
Please Don’t Tell (Mandarin Oriental, Landmark)
Quinary
Stockton
The Old Man
Yardbird
Zuma


To learn more about The Bar Awards, see our hub page here, or their Facebook page here.

DRiNK Magazine is the official publication partner for The Bar Awards 2018.